Revell 1/25 Ford 56 FD-100 Pickup Plastic Model Kit

I posted awhile back about how to build a real wood bed and this is the truck it went in.

This is the Chip Foose truck and I had built this kit before in blue and again this time not following the black Foose color scheme.  This is an excellent kit with a very nice detail Roush NASCAR engine in as well as some nice Foose wheels.

I went with a classic red/white flat black scheme.

I have had great success striping chromed parts with simple window cleaner or a mixture of vinegar and ammonia which allows me to prime and paint the color of my choice. I am a fan of classic chrome and some cars just should have it while others never ever should.

-Hobby Dude

Revell 1/25 '66 Chevy® Fleetside Pickup

I am sure Jeremy Clarkston would give me a hard time for saying this but I love pickups. I am not talking the giant 4wd tiny penis compensators but the great old classic American Pickup. 40's throughout most of the 70's there were some great simple workhorses made.

I owned a few and great memories about a 62 Ford Pickup I brought back from the dead, I drove many a Chevy and Ford at various places of employment so any scale trucks I see always spark my interest. 

So when I saw this offering from Revell in 1:25 scale I grabbed it.

The truck is also known as the C10 models and it basically remained the same with a few changes until the early 70's. The kit comes with a few options and a choice of some decals. 

 I chose to paint it Model Master Turquoise Lacquer.

I  built the V8 283  with a few details to dress it up  

All in all, it is a fine kit, with one exception on the molding of the windshield, it is somewhat bubbled at the top and was hard to meet up with a good fit into the top of the cab. 

- Hobby Dude

I Think I’ll Just Wing It. Pt.7

When I decided to build this plane and blog the progress I made somewhat of a table of contents of what I wanted to cover. My main goal is to maybe make this all a bit less intimidating for a newcomer. See Parts One, Two Three, Four, Five and Six to see all the steps to this project.

Tiny 17" Wingspan and flying weight of 3 ounces, balsa wood cover in very thin shrink. I built this few years ago, crazy fast brushless motor and a symmetrical airfoil

Nieuport 17 - 32" wingspan balsa covered in shrink film, this was a lot of fun to build and fly.

If you like scale model airplanes imagine flying what you built in plastic. I added a pilot that I painted and flying wire to this one, the wire if done right is not the only scale but is functional to hold the right "wash" to the wing.

Through this process to start, one thing became evident that when I embark on each part, the list of things to explain gets very long. Much like when you are relating how to make some dish in the kitchen, explaining the framework of the how when you realize the person you are talking to might not have ever measured out ingredients or preheated an oven let alone knows what blanched means or what happens when you clarify butter.

So when writing I want to be thorough but not overly so. My last addition on servos I felt I had to get into a bit since I have not found a lot of good explanation on the subject. It was always specific to a type of vehicle and I have seen them all and found a few things I wanted to share.

This was a nitro powered plane I converted to electric.  56" wingspan.

The motor and batteries we use in model aircraft have had some real changes in the last 20 years and there has been so much written on these subjects already I will be pointing readers to some established places of knowledge along with trying to shed some light on all the lingo when it comes to that stage of the build.

Flys better than a nitro powered plane

Next step is to make this project look more like a plane and get the main wing on and that will be the next post. Until then I would like to provide some links to information that doesn't need to re-written.

• RC Plane Glossary
• Brushless VS. Brushed Motors
• Battery University

The Glossary is self-explanatory. The link to motors is a decent primer. Battery University is a place everyone from all walks of life should read at least Part one. When I have heard stories about people that freeze their batteries to rejuvenate them or they buried them in their yard, pointed them west when mercury was in retrograde with mars etc. I send them to B.U. and debunk the nonsense. There are links to specific batteries and the LiPo type being the one I will use.

Back Soon,

-Hobby Dude

Barter Town

That is where I live, at least mentally and philosophically.

As a kid, I took my first trip to Barter Town with Hotwheels Cars. I never cared much for the Double Vision but Jeff Muxlow, a classmate liked it and was willing to part with his Red Baron in trade. From there it went to Football Cards, Yo-Yos and bicycle parts leading to a lifelong residence in Barter Town.

Take a look at most people's garages, basements, and closets and it is easy to say that interests and hobbies come and go at times. Check those roller blades you bought with all good intention during the Clinton administration, or telescope, skis or that Bedazzler Gun you bought late night on the home shopping network.

Amazingly enough, some of these things taking up that valuable closet real estate can be worth something to others and this is what Barter Town is all about. There are two types of people that live in Barter Town. First, you have the "NH's" which stands for "Near Hoarders" While having the appearance of hoarding there is actually an ebb and flow of stuff, they acquire, they trade. The second group, are the collectors. They very well may have just as much stuff as the NH's but it is organized and cataloged. When they acquire it is with an intent to fill a void in a collection or series etc.

My mother called me a "pack-rat" many times and while I will admit to being part of the evolution of collecting, that guilt just never stuck.  It is all subjective though as people may gaze upon your built and unbuilt models wondering about your priorities as they forget about the jet ski sitting their shed for the last 3 summers. I may have started off as a kid as a pack -rat but when you want something new as you open that closet and remnants of your past relationship with Ron Popeil are revealed it is time to take a trip to Bartertown.



Like any city I have my share of second hand and Goodwill thrift stores depending on the decade I have frequented many of these stores looking for diecast cars, vinyl records, guitars among many other things. A few years back I found an old CB radio in a goodwill marked $5  so I grabbed it to reuse the microphone in a ham radio project and maybe rob other parts. I took it home and hooked it to power and an antenna and it worked like it was 1977. The brand and model was a Pace 166 and after looking it up and finding 2 currently on sale for $300 and $500 on eBay it turned out this particular CB was the stock GM CB radio that came in the 1977 Pontiac Trans Am/Firebird/ Smokey and the Bandit Edition!  So not being greedy I put it up for an open auction and let the bidding begin. I ended up selling it for $350.  There have many finds that turned me some coin to toss at another interest.

There's a cool little retro type thrift store called "Time Bomb" near me I knew to have some models, he also has clothes, records, toys and lots of cool stuff from years ago. I trucked in there with some vinyl records to trade and came out with a cool pile of models.

I am excited to start the Patton Tank, especially since I scored so much to go with it.

Vietnam theme with a Mutt and resin figures from Verlinden to add to the M48A3.

Love the detail on resin and there are a few extra heads, weapons, etc. in these kits as well.

Also got a BMW R75 with a sidecar which I started already and will be posting it soon.

Lots to build until the spring rain and winds go away to inspire getting back to my RC plane project.

Back Soon.

• Hobby Dude

I think I will just wing it.

The problem with me is that even if I know a pun is bad I will still use it.

I have played with all of the activities found in a hobby shop except maybe collecting beanie babies and scrapbooking and I don't think that really needs an explanation as to why. I do love the plastic world but if you have ever done any radio control hobbies there is another dimension enjoyed with that type of modeling. I have built and raced on road cars, off-road cars, rock crawlers, and few of the more scale RC stuff like Tamiya offers. I grew up with my father introducing Control Line Planes and spent a lot of my paper route money on little Cox .049 control line planes. Mustangs, Spitfires, and Warhawks, I had a coffee can full of spent .049 engines and cut and bruised fingers from the spring starters. I later played a bit with a nitro RC plane but I was going through the common struggle of finding a place big enough to fly without paying to join a club and getting to participate in the nonsense of clubs. Years later about the time Electric Park flyers came out I started managing a hobby shop.

The aspect of going to a ball field with smaller quieter planes was a huge benefit to being able to fly more and become a better flyer. I flew a lot and became the local guru on electrics the local hobby shop.

As a result, I later changed jobs to a hobby wholesale job and had a hand in designing and testing many products for electric planes and helis. Had my share of trade shows and events even made it to the gigantic airfield in Muncie Indiana joining the Compass Factory Heli Team at the amateur aircraft headquarters for the Huge Heli Fun/Fly Competition. I designed ducted fan jets, few trainers, and rarely met a kit or ARF(almost ready to fly) that I did not modify.

Recently the bug to build a plastic airplane kit started growing and like so many times in the past I think why not build something to fly. So I am digging into the depths of my math mind for what I use to know and I am going to build a park flyer out of some really basic materials and log the build here. I looked at current kits and I don't want to get into a long detailed build or some overpriced kit or ARF. I had the most fun flying with the basic airframe.

I have a basic outrunner I can use a 2cell pack(7.4v nominal) that should give me around 9-10 ounces of thrust and as a general rule 1:1 thrust to weight ratio is good for 3-d flying and aerobatics so if I can keep the AUW(all up weight) around 12 ounces it should fly great being is my intent is to build a sport flyer. The AUW is equal to the airframe, servos, radio gear, prop etc. I am going to use a piece of foam board from the dollar store for a wing and both stabilizers and The skeleton is a  6mmx610mm stick. I know all my posts so far are plastic scale cars but I am Hobby Dude so I have to change it up a bit. If anyone ever wanted to cross over into RC from scale plastic ask questions as much as you want and follow along as I build something fly-able out of cheap supplies. I will explain electric motors, Lipo batteries, charging, Speed control, servos and plane setup.

• Hobby Dude

Don't Fence Me In

Unless I am in a diorama if so then I got a trick for ya.

Almost any Fabric store has this lace stuff that is made of something like a PVC or plastic material and with a little help of paint, some of it looks like wire or chain link fence. It is called "TULLE LACE" pronounced 'tool'.
 I picked up a large amount of shiny black for under a dollar and from what I understand there are many sizes so I'm thinking many scales could be found. What I picked up measure almost perfect to be scale chain link fence for 1/25 - 1/25 scale. I measured my real fence outside at my home, then did the math and like I say it's almost spot on.

I used some fast drying Krylon Flat aluminum I had around to spray it which takes a bit being as it is lace and you want to rotate, twist and repeat to get color coverage in all the tiny angles. The result is some fairly convincing chain link fence, I plan to use it with some aluminum tubing for the poles.

-Hobby Dude

Revell 1/24 68 Volkswagen Beetle

I knew at some point I wanted to add a Bug to my shelf but was not really excited when I bought this kit, that is until I opened it. The mold I do believe is the same as the  Revell of Germany Police Bug kit. This kit is part of "California" Series which makes no sense since there wasn't flower decals or a surfboard in the kit.

If you want to compare the two different offering here are the manuals:

Revell USA VW

Revell Germany Police Bug

For my build, I used Tamiya Field Gray Lacquer which is this green color followed up with Tamiya semi-gloss clear. The interior is Model Master Fabric Tan Lacquer.



It is very nicely detailed build with build options. Very minimal sanding and most parts fitment was a snap fit which is typically only found on molds not made in China. This one was marked and inspected with sticking designating it came from Poland and hats off to the Poles for some nice plastic.

I can say if you are looking for a VW to build these can be found from $18 to $22 and it is well worth the price.

• Hobby Dude